Solasta II

[1998]

As they write, to stay close to the tabletop experience.

[LemonDemonGirl]

Poor man's BG3

[1998]

That would be a massive step up from the first game

[rusty_shackleford]

As they write, to stay close to the tabletop experience.

What % of tabletop players even use a combat grid? I'm guessing the number is higher now since post-3.5e & virtual tabletops… But it used to only be a small minority of players.
The main reason for pushing miniatures was for TSR to sell them for money. Remember to only use miniatures approved by TSR!

Selection_024.webp

Wizardry, etc., are designed like they are because that was an actual representation of AD&D combat. It plays out in your head as an abstraction.

Whiteshark is going to find this post and we're going to get into a big debate…

[Acrux]

Theater of the Mind plus an Excel spreadsheet are the way to go.

[J1M]

No idea why they decided to stick with a combat grid considering it's a complete rewrite

It is vastly superior for communicating visually things like threat range, if a hallway is blocked, etc.

I note that light and elevation, which where overly emphasized in the first game are not present in these screenshots.

[rusty_shackleford]

No idea why they decided to stick with a combat grid considering it's a complete rewrite

It is vastly superior for communicating visually things like threat range, if a hallway is blocked, etc.

I note that light and elevation, which where overly emphasized in the first game are not present in these screenshots.

Freeform worked fine in BG3

[J1M]

No idea why they decided to stick with a combat grid considering it's a complete rewrite

It is vastly superior for communicating visually things like threat range, if a hallway is blocked, etc.

I note that light and elevation, which where overly emphasized in the first game are not present in these screenshots.

Freeform worked fine in BG3

But a grid would have been better. Maybe we can compromise on a hex grid.

[rusty_shackleford]

It is vastly superior for communicating visually things like threat range, if a hallway is blocked, etc.

I note that light and elevation, which where overly emphasized in the first game are not present in these screenshots.

Freeform worked fine in BG3

But a grid would have been better. Maybe we can compromise on a hex grid.

It's just a grid with a very small grid size

[J1M]

Freeform worked fine in BG3

But a grid would have been better. Maybe we can compromise on a hex grid.

It's just a grid with a very small grid size

Indeed. A SQUARE grid the size of a pixel.

Are you aware I made this point in a Codex thread over a decade ago?

[rusty_shackleford]

Are you aware I made this point in a Codex thread over a decade ago?

No, I'm just familiar with how the Divinity engine works.

[1998]

There will be a demo released on 24th Feb

[Tweed]

As they write, to stay close to the tabletop experience.

What % of tabletop players even use a combat grid? I'm guessing the number is higher now since post-3.5e & virtual tabletops… But it used to only be a small minority of players.
The main reason for pushing miniatures was for TSR to sell them for money. Remember to only use miniatures approved by TSR!


Wizardry, etc., are designed like they are because that was an actual representation of AD&D combat. It plays out in your head as an abstraction.

Whiteshark is going to find this post and we're going to get into a big debate…

Only when needed, if the DM absolutely had to give us visuals for enemies at range. "Okay the archers are...here let me just draw it out...10, 20, uhh 30 feet away so you need to close if you want to slice them and there's a hill here and a rock there." That kind of thing.

[Acrux]

Give me theater of the mind plus my Excel spreadsheet and I'll give you the (homebrewed) world.

[Xenich]

At no point in Solasta did I say to myself "I wish they spent more resources on faces".

I had thoughts like "why do so few of these enemies have abilities other than basic attack" and "I'd prefer a vastly different inventory system".

bu bu bu graphics are da most important part of a game!

/em in a ****** voice: <spells out loud> G-A-M-E, that spells Graphics! Or was that M-O-O-N?

[1998]

They will release a demo next Monday, 24th. A separate 2-3h lvl3 adventure that won't be included in the final game.

https://steamcommunity.com/games/297595 ... 1206119135

[Acrux]

The demo is up if anyone wants to try it.

[Finarfin]

The demo is up if anyone wants to try it.

Oh ****, thought it's up when Next Fest is habbening

[fkirenicus]

I like Solasta COTM (so far, beat the vampiress in the castle). If someone tries the Solasta 2 demo, I am very interested to hear the verdict. Though I dare say that we might be in for a BG3 chapter 3 shock once again... I.e., a game that is good until about halfway through, then the quality plummets.

[Finarfin]

Alright, first time booting up Solasta 2, the main menu already gets a "******* A" from me.


You actually see your party standing there and maybe it will change depending on where you are in the campaign.

[Finarfin]

Looks pretty good graphics-wise. UI is also clean and not cluttered.

You can have zoom in and out quite a bit.

Indirect and Direct Controls. Meaning Indirect is like CRPG click to move while direct is WASD like modern RPGs.

[fkirenicus]

@Finarfin , you're stuck with that party in the demo - you can't create your own characters?
That emo ---dwarf? --- or what's it, the one with the make-up... not good.

[Finarfin]

Yes, you are stuck with a pre-made party in this demo.
That is not a dwarf, that is a halfling

In general small races also look like **** in this game. again.

[fkirenicus]

The worst atrocity is still what WotC and hence Larian have done to the gnomes in D&D 5e... I guess we'll see this in Solasta II as well. :-/

EDIT: Oh yes... because they have already been mutated in Solasta COTM. Had to check, and they look just as awkward as they do in BG3. F***.

[Cloharp7]

Aaand, black woman in a suit of knight armor. First red flag for me.

The dwarf looks like a dwarf at least.

The halfling, oh God!

[J1M]

The worst atrocity is still what WotC and hence Larian have done to the gnomes in D&D 5e... I guess we'll see this in Solasta II as well. :-/

Gnomes belong in the monster manual, not the PHB!

[J1M]

I like Solasta COTM (so far, beat the vampiress in the castle). If someone tries the Solasta 2 demo, I am very interested to hear the verdict. Though I dare say that we might be in for a BG3 chapter 3 shock once again... I.e., a game that is good until about halfway through, then the quality plummets.

Good news, the best part of Solasta is the Lost Valley DLC campaign.

[Finarfin]

Aaand, black woman in a suit of knight armor. First red flag for me.

The dwarf looks like a dwarf at least.

The halfling, oh God!

As I said, it's a premade party so you'll never see her again if you decide to play the full game.

[Oyster Sauce]

Aaand, black woman in a suit of knight armor. First red flag for me.

The dwarf looks like a dwarf at least.

The halfling, oh God!

As I said, it's a premade party so you'll never see her again if you decide to play the full game.

Just dozens of other ones throughout the campaign

[J1M]

Looks pretty good graphics-wise. UI is also clean and not cluttered.

You can have zoom in and out quite a bit.

Indirect and Direct Controls. Meaning Indirect is like CRPG click to move while direct is WASD like modern RPGs.

UI is at a weird halfway point between flat-modern like Solasta 1 and an ornate look that would be more diegetic for the setting.